St. Vincent in Worcester and MetroWest Medical Center to be run by Dallas-based healthcare company

WORCESTER - Tenet Healthcare is poised to own St. Vincent Hospital for a second time after a proposed $4.3 billion deal between Tenet Healthcare and Vanguard Health Systems was signed. Tenet sold the Worcester hospital to Vanguard eight years ago and the company is now buying St. Vincent as well as MetroWest Medical Center in Framingham and Natick from Vanguard.

According to a press release from Tenet, the deal should be finalized by the end of 2013.

According to the Worcester Telegram & Gazette*, the sale of St. Vincent Medical Center is the fifth time in 17 years that the hospital has changed ownership. Vanguard bought the hospital from Tenet, which acquired the hospital when it took over hospital chain OrNda HealthCorp. Vanguard purchased the hospital in 2005 for $126.7 million.

Tenet is acquiring St. Vincent and the MetroWest Medical Center by purchasing Vanguard for around $1.8 billion in cash. Tenet says it will also take on Vanguard's reported $2.5 billion in debt.

"This combination will establish a much larger, stronger, and flexible industry-leading healthcare organization," said Charlie Martin, Vanguard’s founder, chairman and chief executive officer, in a press release. "The cultures of our two companies are a great fit and we share a vision of creating a better health and healthcare system that will lead us through the coming changes. Our leaders and operators are innovative and forward-thinking, and certainly an attractive complement to the Tenet management team. Together, we now have the scale and strength to achieve the vision we have pursued in parallel.”